Murder of Shibli Sadiq Hridoy

Hridoy was a 16-year-old Bengali boy whose father was a truck driver. Since his family was very poor, he had started to work in a poultry farm as a manager, alongside his studies.[2] There he befriended some Marma men who also worked on the farm.[3]

Hridoy was kidnapped on 28 August 2023, at night.[1] Two days later his parents were contacted by the kidnappers who demanded a ransom of 200,000 taka. After paying the ransom they were assured that Hridoy would return by morning, but that did not happen.[4]

They kept waiting, but when there was no sign of Hridoy, they informed the police. The Bangladesh police interrogated a number of suspects, one of whom confessed and showed them the area where Hridoy had been tortured and killed. Police officers from the Raozan police station searched the area, but found only fragments of Hridoy's bones as well as his skull.[2][3] The suspect led the police to four other supposed culprits including Umongshing Marma, who worked at the poultry farm with Hridoy and was said to carry the main responsibility for planning and executing the crime.[2] The police asked them about why there was no flesh on the bones, since it usually takes a few months to a year for a dead body to decompose. During the interrogation they confessed to having butchered and eaten the dead body. They also said that they killed Hridoy because he had recognized them as people he knew and was friends with, so they were worried that he would reveal their identities to the police.[3]

On 10 September, 46-year-old Umongshing Marma was arrested as the suspected mastermind behind the crime.[1][5] The following day, when he was taken to the crime scene, a angry mob of villagers surrounded the police vehicle and lynched him.[1][6]

• Crime in Bangladesh
• List of incidents of cannibalism